The Apartment
by ProtoChan
Summary: It is the 5th anniversary of the Kurata clan's slaughter. Lost in a world of depression, Kurapika spends the day in mourning. Not wanting to see their friend suffer, the gang makes a plan to make their friend feel better. Can't write summaries. R&R please
1. Chapter 1

The Apartment

"Okay gentlemen," the manager said. "Just sign these last papers and it's a done deal." The two men- or rather one man and one boy- looked at each other, meeting each other with a smile and a nod. The two had been in the manager's office for at least a half hour already doing nothing but signing papers. To finally be signing the last paper was, to say the least, a breath of fresh air. The younger of the two, upon signing the last paper, made that feeling very clear as he jumped out of his seat yelling "Yay! We're finally done!"

_Personally_, the older of the two thought, _who could blame him?_

He himself, wanting to set a good example for his friend, signed the paper, calmly thanked the manager, and shook his hand. Upon seeing this, the younger man apologized for his previous action, to which the manager smiled and shook his hand.

"I'll have your apartment fully ready for use by 4:00 today!" the manager told the pair before they left.

As the two walked out of the manager's office, they spotted a familiar, white haired friend of theirs sitting in the lobby, waiting for his friends - and hiding from them at the same time.

"Killua," the boy cried as he ran over to him, "we're done signing the paperwork! The apartment officially belongs to us!"

"Though personally Killua," the man interjectected, with a lightly annoyed look on his face, " I really think that you should been signing those papers with us. You had no excuse like Kurapika to not come. The manager said important stuff and-"

"Ah zip it, old man." Killua said, cutting his friend off, further angering his friend. Killua had been one well known to skip out on his responsibilities. Leorio pondered, _Uggh, Killua never does what he's supposed to do. He's never going to do work or chores in this apartment. He'll just stick them with me or Kurapika, while he just sits around doing nothing._ Leorio just sighed, knowing there's not really a lot he could do about this. Killua had grown up, living in a home where everything was done for him. Considering the rest of his crazy family, Killua came out pretty normal. Leorio's further thoughts on Killua were interrupted by the boy himself:

"Hey guys, let's go to the park! No one wants to be stuck in an apartment building all day!" Although met initially with glares by Gon and his older friend, Leorio, the two eventually nodded. What else were they going to do until 4 o clock, anyway and he wanted to see the town.

While at the park, Gon and Killua spent time playing Frisbee. Sitting on a bench, at around noon, Leorio remembered that Kurapika was on break at his new job right now, and that he could call and tell his friend the good news. Upon hearing Leorio's announcement, the Kurata expressed his joy, and stated that he is conveniently dismissed from work at 4:00 as well. Seeing that his break was ending, Kurapika ended the conversation shortly after. Though sad at the Kurata leaving their conversation so soon, Leorio shrugged it off, thinking; _I'll be seeing him __**a lot**__ more anyway._ With that, he jumped out of the bench, running towards the boys' game.


	2. Chapter 2

**Before this chapter begins, I wanted to clear some things up that I neglected to do in the previous chapter.**

**First, this series is NON CANON. I wasn't able to find a good place in the continuity to set this story. Also, I'd like to mention that while this series will have about 4 or 5 chapters of story, the rest I plan to make one shots. However, I intend to make other fan fics of multiple chapters which will exist in the same continuity. I will post them in chronological order. In the event that one of my one shots comes before or after one of the revolving stories, I'll mention it before the story. **

**Second, I wanted to clear up some things about the setting. I decided to set this series in Whale Island, since 3 of the 4 main characters seemed to originate from there (the boat that Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika got on left from Whale Island, so I'm assuming that they're all from different parts of the island. If I'm wrong, please feel free to correct me.)**

**Now without further ado, please enjoy Chapter 2. Feel free to comment in the comment section and tell me what you think of the story so far.**

* * *

At 4:00, the group headed back to the apartment building. True to his words, the manager was sitting in the lobby waiting for them with four keys at hand. Upon a silent agreement, the group waited for their fourth member to return home from work, knowing that it would not be a particularly long wait. Kurapika's new job was a mere 5 minute walk from the building, and he wanted to see the apartment as much as they did. Of course, he knew what it looked like and all, but the fact of just walking into an apartment and thinking _this is my place,_ was a feeling that the Kurata hadn't known for years.

"Hi." The blonde spoke upon reaching his friends.

"Hey Kurapika, how was work?" Gon said loudly, causing him to gain the attention of one or more people in the lobby.

"It was good. Compared to working for Neon Nostrad in York Shin City, it's a dream job ." To almost anybody that knew Kurapika to some degree, it was apparent that Kurapika imensely disliked the city of York Shin. He hated the crime rate of the city. He hated the city's traffic at the time of the annual auction. He hated the people and the food. When the group was deciding where to live before settling in this town, Kurapika made sure to make his opposition of the city **very** clear. He only wanted to come out to York Shin City as a means of getting the scarlet eyes and, of course, chasing the Genei Ryodan. Not to mention, working for Neon was anything but a pleasant experience for the Kurata. Kurapika could think of a million things that he would rather do than babysit a spoiled, unintelligent teenager all day and night. Had it not been for Senritsu, Kurapika would have gone crazy. Kurapika's new job was exactly what he needed. His job was all about finding the locations of valued artifacts using the internet. Not to mention his boss actually **had** a set of scarlet eyes in his possession and was interested in buying more. Needless to say, Kurapika had very good sources of at least knowing where all pairs of the eyes were located. "Are you guys ready to go up to the apartment?"

"You bet!" Killua yelled. "Gon, I'll race you!" Killua said as he started running up the stairs.

"No fair Killua! You got a head start!" Gon cried as he chased his friend.

Kurapika looked at Gon as he climbed up the stairs. He then, without looking at Leorio, commented "They never change one bit, do they?"

"No, they don't" Leorio replied, his eyes not departing from the now abandoned staircase.

Leorio and Kurapika decided to take the elevator up to their apartment, both tired from their long day. Their apartment was on the sixth floor of an eight story apartment building. During the minute long elevator ride, the two took light glances at each other, but neither bothered to talk. However, they both knew that this wasn't going to last.

When they got to their apartment, they noticed that Killua and Gon were surprisingly waiting for them. Leorio honestly thought that they would have run into the apartment, leaving the door opened. But there they were, waiting for their other two friends. Leorio noticed that Gon was slightly out of breath. He quietly assumed that Killua had won the race. As Kurapika waited to enter the building, he saw no one moving, but Killua preparing to speak.

"Kurapika," Killua began, "…Gon, Leorio, and I were talking earlier, and we were wondering if you'd like to open the door." Kurapika's friends looked up at him, smiling.

"…sure…thanks Killua," Kurapika said with a smile on his face and the feeling of tears forming in his eyes. He was speechless. He was so filled with gratitude, a gratitude that he hadn't felt in years. His voice growing stronger, he said, "Thank you everyone!" He said this as he pushed the key into the door and felt it as the door unlocked.

The four entered the apartment. They entered into a very small hall which led to their living room. The room had 3 loveseats and a big, comfy looking armchair with a TV placed so that all seated in the room could see it and a coffee table placed where everyone could reach it. Gon gave the room his classic smile. The room was perfect for the friends, Gon thought.

Suddenly, Gon's shirt felt a tight pull. He looked at it only to see Killua's hand attached to his shirt. Quickly remembering why Killua wanted his attention, Gon followed him, away from the group. Noticing, Leorio and Kurapika looked at them, and then at each other.

"They must be heading to their room." Kurapika assumed.

"We should probably head to ours." Leorio suggested. Kurapika had nearly forgotten one of the most important things about their new apartment; there were only two bedrooms. From the second that he discovered this, he knew that he who he was going to be sharing his room with. Trying to separate Gon and Killua was like trying to kill Hisoka to him. That wasn't to say that Kurapika definitely would not have chosen Leorio if he could. Kurapika found Leorio to be a more organized person then either of the boys, meaning that they would avoid issues of cleanliness. Leorio had faults as a roommate of course, remembering the last time that they shared a room, but he was by no means a bad roommate.

Leorio had already pondered the room arrangements of the apartment to himself previously as well. Kurapika would have been Leorio's first choice as a roommate any way. Even though Kurapika could be a little uptight, he thought, remembering their last experience as roommates when Kurapika attacked him in the face for walking into their room naked, he had a lot more good qualities. He was quiet, unlike Gon. With Gon as a roommate, he would never get a moment's peace in his room. As for Killua, Leorio could best describe their relationship as mutually acquaintances, bonding over their relation to Gon and Kurapika, bur not much, if anything, else. When alone, the two constantly bickered and insulted one another. Not only that, but Leorio held light feelings of intimidation towards the former assassin. The thought of sharing a room with Killua made Leorio cringe.

As Kurapika and Leorio walked to their room, they peered over at the adjacent room. They saw that all of Gon and Killua's luggage had been brought up to their bedrooms. And that the room had a plentiful amount of space. They assumed that their room would have the same dimensions. However, they put on confused faces as they stared at the kid's bedding arrangements. Instead of two full sized beds, they saw one queen sized bed. Seeing as the children didn't mind the arrangement, the two shrugged and turned to enter their room.

The closed door of their room quietly opened as Leorio turned the knob and pushed the door slightly open. Through the visible crease in the door created by Leorio, the two could see a dimly lit room with beige walls. On opposing sides of the floor, the two men saw their respective bags. Upon turning the light switch by the door on, Leorio noticed the significant change in lighting, as the room lit up right before his eyes. Wanting to further inspect his room, Leorio pushed the door open further and walked in, with his companion following close by. After taking about five steps in the door, Leorio stopped dead in his tracks, with Kurapika soon bumping into him. Though initially confused by his friend's sudden actions, the Kurata quickly realized as he saw that, just as Gon and Killua, their room only had one bed. A feeling of shock and awkwardness filled the room, as not a sound left either man's mouth.


	3. Chapter 3

The silence in the room continued to fill the air. The quiet of the room made it possible to hear the sound of the other two boys playfully fighting in the living room. After the shock of what the two could only believe was a mistake concerning the arrangement of their room took a few minutes to sink in and pass, Leorio decided to finally speak, breaking the silence. He said something, but the still amazed Kurata could barely hear him, as he felt his senses drift away. Kurapika grew stiff as he continued to scrutinize the bed until he felt a hand shaking his shoulder.

"Kurapika, are you listening?" Leorio calmly inquired.

Quickly getting his senses back, the Kurata responded, "I-I'm sorry Leorio. What did you say? I didn't hear."

"What I was saying, is that I'm going to talk to the manager about this. He probably just made a mistake or something. He's probably still downstairs in the lobby. Do you want to come with me?" The Kurata silently nodded. _Leorio's right, _Kurapika thought. _It was probably just a mistake and the manager will take care of it. I mean, that's his job, right?_

The minute elevator ride down the buildings floors felt more like an hour as the pair traveled down to the lobby, with neither saying a word, leaving each other to their own thoughts. Just as Leorio had predicted, the manager had been sitting in his desk in the lobby. Upon seeing the two men, he grew a small smile.

"Hello gentlemen," he said. "How is the apartment? Is everything set up to your liking?"

"The apartment is very nice, but we have a small problem with our room." Kurapika responded.

Suddenly, the manager's face turned from one of glee to one of confusion. Seeing that this might be more of a personal problem, he invited the duo into his office. Upon settling down, the manager continued his inquiry.

"What seems to be the problem?"

"Well, my roommate and I found that our room had a single queen sized bed instead of a full sized bed. It puts us in a … very strange position. We were wondering where the two full sized beds that the previous owners of the apartment had are. We would like to exchange the bed in our room for them." Kurapika stated with a hint of optimism in his voice.

"Oh… I'm sorry, but the beds that you saw when I showed you the apartment actually belonged to the people who used to own it. When they moved out, they took their beds with them." Suddenly, the optimism that Kurapika held just moments ago vanished. Leorio suddenly felt the need to interject.

"Do you have any other full sized beds?"

"No." With that, Kurapika's eyes widened at the shock he was going through. Meanwhile, sitting right by his side, Leorio had a similar facial expression. "I could give you an order form and a catalogue so that you can order them if you would like, but it will take at least two weeks before they arrive. Would you like me to place an order? I'm sorry, but that is all that I can do for you right now," the manager said compromisingly.

"Thank you." Leorio said, his face reverting back to a calmer state. "I'll take them please." Looking through the files in his desk, he found a booklet and an order form from his commonly used furnishing company.

As they left, Kurapika calmed down enough to thank the manager for his assistance and the two headed for the elevator. This time, Leorio was calmer and decided to talk to the still tense boy beside him. As the elevator door had closed and began to move towards floor 6, the dark haired man spoke.

"This isn't that big of a deal." The comment did not shock the Kurata, but rather made him curious as to what his friend was thinking.

"What do you mean?" Kurapika responded in a non-angered manner.

"What I mean," The doctor spoke as he leaned back faced towards a wall "is that our situation isn't nearly as bad as we're thinking. Think about it Kurapika, we're friends right?"

"Yes, but it does seem a little awkward, don't you think?"

"I mean, yes, the situation is a little uncomfortable, but why be nervous or anything? We're both mature and responsible adults. It's not like we're going to take advantage of each other in the middle of the night or anything like that. I wouldn't do that, and I know you wouldn't." The Kurata was nearly speechless. Leorio had made a lot of sense and he knew it. Before he could respond, Leorio continued.

"In any event, it will only be for two weeks- a month tops. I think we can stand each other for that long." The doctor couldn't help but lightly joke to himself as he said his last sentence in a relaxed and humorous tone. It was the only way to lighten up the mood in the elevator, and at this point, he was willing to do just about anything to rid the awkward air between the two, and it was better sooner than later.

"You're right. We're hunters. What do we have to fear?" With that, Kurapika smiled. Believing the smile whole-heartedly, Leorio smiled back, thus ending the conversation. However, the smile hid his uncertainty and still-present fear. He feared the chance of them accidentally cuddling or holding hands in their sleep. Kurapika knew that he had to face Leorio every day and sharing a room, or even a bed with someone in that kind of situation would freak Kurapika out to the point where he might want to leave the apartment!

Before Kurapika could drift off any further he quickly knocked sense back into himself. _Leorio's right, _the Kurata thought. _Nothing's going to happen. _

_Ding_. The elevator reached floor 6, releasing the two from their holding room. When they re-entered the apartment, they saw Gon and Killua watching TV in the living room, each laying on an individual loveseat. Upon hearing their friends enter the room, Gon jumped out of his love seat and walked to the two teens.

"HI GUYS! Where did you go?" The small boy asked with a curious tone and a curious face to match.

Not wanting to reveal the true reason for their departure, nor wanting to lie, Kurapika quickly came up with an answer and took it upon himself to answer his friend's question.

"We needed to ask the manager something about our room."

"What was it?" Killua, who Kurapika could have sworn appeared out of **nowhere**, suddenly came in and asked.

"What it was," Leorio interjected giving a lightly annoyed and defensive glare at the boy, "is a private matter." _Thank God, _Kurapika thought at the doctor's sudden intervention. Kurapika had no idea how to respond to Killua's question and Leorio had saved him just in time. For once, he was actually thankful for Leorio and Killua's constant bickering. It had the power to rid the room of any uncomfortable feelings and provided a chance for the boy to forget the previous conversation.

Being able to tell that Kurapika was really did not want to answer his question, Killua subsided.

"Whatever old man," the white haired boy shrugged off as if Leorio's answer had meant nothing at all. "It's getting late. Let's get something to eat." The group all agreed. They had all, except ironically, Killua, had a long and surprising day, they decided that filling up their stomachs was the best thing to do. Not having anything as far as food went stored in the apartment yet, the four set out for a café or a restaurant to eat at.


	4. Chapter 4

After an exciting day for the entire group, dinner provided a great opportunity for everyone to relax. After much quarreling as they walked around town, they settled on eating at a seemingly new BBQ place. Having little desire to head home, the hunters continued to explore the town after dinner. By the time they neared the other side of town, Leorio noted that it was past 11:00 and, based on the facial expressions and apparent energy levels of his friends, suggested going home.

By the time they finally got back up to the apartment, Gon could barely keep his eyes open as he dragged his feet towards his room, with Killua following closely behind.

"Goodnight guys," Gon mumbled as he turned into his room and plopped on his bed. As a boy raised under a relatively early curfew, Gon was not used to staying up much later than 9:30 and as they spent time together, Killua got acquainted with his friend's sleeping schedule, adopting it.

After entering their room, the group's older members prepared to sleep. Noticing the nervous aura his friend was still carrying, Leorio joked to the blond, being careful to keep his voice down for his friends in the other room:

"Promise not to break my face?"

The joke worked, as Kurapika rebuttled shortly after.

"Promise to wear actual sleepwear?"

"Don't worry. I bought pajamas." He looked to his luggage and pulled out some clothes. "Speaking of which, I'll be back momentarily." Leorio said as he left the room with the bundle of clothes at hand, obviously heading for the bathroom. Using this opportunity to change as well, the Kurata put on a comfortable white top and light blue cotton pants. Leorio returned moments after his friend finished.

Familiar shivers returned up the Kurata's spine. Leorio walked in wearing a black short sleeved shirt and black pants. Shuddering unnoticed by his friend, Kurapika thought, _why do I get chills up my back every time I share a room with this guy? This is Leorio for cripes sake! I gotta relax myself._

Yawning, Leorio walked towards his side of the bed. He headed for the side where his bags were closer to, which much to Kurapika's dismay, was closer side to the door. Kurapika wanted to stay awake for a bit, but his tiredness took control of him and forced him to lie down in the bed.

"Goodnight Kurapika," Leorio released as he tuned off the lamp by his side.

"Goodnight Leorio," the blond said as he turned off his light and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

After a surprisingly comfortable sleep, all things considered, Kurapika awoke the next morning, less than 10 seconds before his roommate. Not feeling any skin connection to the doctor beside him initially, he had a sigh of relief. That feeling however, was quickly altered when his friend moved his right hand and moved the Kurata's left finger in the process. Kurapika didn't worry though, only flinching and ignoring the incident emtirely else wise. It wasn't either of their faults anyways, Kurapika knew. _People naturally move in their sleep_, he heard himself say. It vaguely reminded him of something Gon or Senritsu would say in this situation.

After about 10 or so days went by, the pair basically had adopted a similar routine when it came to their nightly sleep preparations, each night getting more and more comfortable around each other.

One afternoon, Kurapika walked into the kitchen to see Leorio looking in a familiar book.

"Wasn't that the catalogue the manager gave us to order beds?" Not seeing his friend enter the room, Leorio flinched as he saw his friend enter the room.

"Oh…I guess it is," the doctor said, scrutinizing the book and reminding himself of its origins.

"You never ordered them, did you?"

"No. Sorry, I guess it slipped my mind. I've been preparing for my job for the past few days." Leorio looked at his friend slightly worried at what he was going to say in response.

"It's no big deal. I mean, they'd be a lot of money and we're already used to it by now, right?" Leorio looked at his friend, very surprised by his response. He had felt like he was preparing for a blizzard, and in the end, only got a light snowfall from the boy. "So what are you looking for in the book anyways," he had asked, as if ignoring the amazed face Leorio was giving him.

"Oh. I was looking for some furniture for our room. My cousin's going to give me his old computer, and I need a desk for it. Not to mention, we also both need drawers and stuff."

"Can I help you look through it?" the Kurata boy offered.

Leorio smiled. "Sure." They looked through the book together, removing the final layer of their wall of awkwardness. Much like Gon and Killua, Kurapika understood their innocence and logic. _He's my friend and we share a bed. End of story._

* * *

**Now that small story line is officially done. From this point on, the story will mainly be one shots, or so I've planned. What I intended to do with these first few chapters was to grasp the setting of the new town and some of the character relationships that I will be focusing on in this story and the side fics. Speaking of which, make sure to read the side fics (Separate fics that relate to this central one), as they'll offer more developed storylines within The Apartment's continuity. I'll post them in chronological order and everything so that no one's confused. **

**I hope you enjoyed the first few chapters! Please review in the comments! Next time, be prepared for some other Hunter X Hunter characters to make an appearance!**


	5. Chapter 5

Illumi Zoldyck had just returned from another successful job, grinning lightly as he entered the family room of his home. The term "family room" was very ironic to the eldest if the Zoldyck children. Very rarely did anyone in the Zoldyck family ever come into the room, usually preferring to stay in their reapective rooms, except the non-often occasion that his mother would come into the room to do knitting, with Kalluto at her side as always. For this reason, Illumi took advantage of the room, using it to relax, rest, or read after his assignment without fear of disturbances. He was able to find a calmness in this room that he could not find anywhere else in the Zoldyck home, not even his own room.

For these reasons, he found it very odd that upon entering the room, his grandfather Zeno was sitting on a couch, waiting for him to arrive. Upon seeing him through the small window in the door, Illumi entered the room, with an eye fixed on his grandfather. He sat on a separate couch and reached for a newspaper on a small table that his servants had brought into the room upon his request. However, before Illumi could even reach the second page of his newspaper, his grandfather spoke.

"Your father wants to speak with you Illumi"

Blandly, Illumi responded, "Then I shouldn't keep him waiting." With that, he returned the newspaper to its prior location, stood up, and left the room. Though neither showed it, both Zoldycks knew that there were feeling of both fear and curiosity inside Illumi's mind as he left the room and headed down the hall towards his father's quarters.

_What could my father want?_ The assassin pondered this question as he walked to his father's room. Upon finally arriving at his destination, Illumi knocked on the large door.

"Come in Illumi," Silva Zoldyck said with a booming voice. Illumi complied with his father's command. Upon entering the room, he sat in the chair facing Silva.

"Illumi," Silva started, still in his firm, loud voice. "I've been having concerns about your brother's progress recently." Illumi was smart enough to know that although Illumi had quite a few brothers, his father was referring to Killua, who had made a decision to leave the life of an assassin and leave his family to travel with his friends. Silva had let Killua leave Kukuru Mountain in the first place, saying that is would be an important step towards mastering the art of killing that the boy was so naturally good at. Continuing his sentence, Silva stated, "I want to make sure that Killua still has the heart of an assassin and a passion for killing."

"How does that include me?" The eldest Zoldyck son asked, carrying a bland tone of voice.

"Simple. The only way Killua's anger and killer instincts can be brought out is if he feels the presence of a threat that can put himself or his friends in harms way. I know for a fact that Killua has those emotions whenever he sees you. You have the ability to anger Killua by the simple mentioning of his friends."

"So, what exactly do you want me to do? Go and fight his little friend?"

"No. What I'd like you to do is to keep an eye on Killua. Pop your head into his life occasionally just to see how he reacts upon seeing you. Mention his friend Gon a time or two while talking to him and then report back to me."

"Should I consider this my newest assignment father?" Illumi inquired.

"If you'd like to, then yes. I will be paying you for the job. You can return home as often as you need and can borrow any money necessary to perform the task. However, it is more of a family affair than a job. I don't want you killing any of Killua's friends. However, feel free to take on other jobs not related to Killua or his friends."

"Very well. Where exactly am I heading? Killua and his little friend are not well known for their consistency in location."

"That is no longer a problem. I know for a fact that Killua and his friends have just purchased an apartment on Whale Island." After hearing his brother's location, his focus temporarily left his father.

_Whale Island, _the assassin thought, remembering the information he studied on the island. _I would have never expected Killua to settle in such a boring area. But then again, I never expected my brother to settle down __**anywhere**__._

"Illumi?" Silva called, once again getting his son's full focus. "Will you be ready to leave for Whale Island tomorrow? I've arranged for a private flight to take you there and an apartment for you to stay in."

"Yes father." Illumi was used to leaving a location with short notice, so he had n problem with the sudden move. It was a basic necessary skill for assassins to have. It was dangerous to stay in one location for long when one was committing murder. "If you are finished father, may I be dismissed now? I need to take care of some things before I depart."

"Yes." Illumi departed his father's room without any form of a goodbye, which was customary for the Zoldycks.

After the conversation, Illumi went to his room to pack his things. He noticed that on his bed were documents that Silva had servants bring to his room. Among the documents was a driver's license for Whale Island, a library card, and his birth certificate. Silva also included 20 million zeni for other expenses Illumi might have. He didn't need to pack anymore than one duffel bag, which included clothing, his personal laptop, books and magazines to help to occupy his time while on the flight, and personal belonging like toothbrushes and his journal.

Later that evening, Illumi went back into the now abandoned family room, with his cell phone at hand. He sat down as he searched for his desired contacts number. Upon reaching it, he pressed a bright blue button on the phone and the call went through. After about 15 seconds, the phone stopped ringing as someone picked up. Without the other person even needing to speak, Illumi spoke in his place.

"I've very recently been given an assignment that involves my brother and your target." Though Illumi could not see it, the man on the other side of the line smiled evilly upon hearing the last 3 words of Illumi's sentence. "The job will be boring alone and father didn't mention anything against bringing company along for the assignment. Are you interested?"

"Seeing my Ringo-chan again? How could I say no?!"

"They're on Whale Island, but not at the boy's house. Apparently, he, Killua, and their two other friends bought an apartment on the other side of the island."

"Hmm…how interesting… You know what they say though, unripe fruits always turn up in peculiar places" Through the phone, Illumi could hear his companion laughing like a maniac.

"Hisoka. You are so weird." With that, Illumi ended the call and went to sleep after setting up a meeting point with his friend. At 6:00 AM the next morning, Illumi woke up, grabbed his newspaper from the family room, and headed out for his flight.

* * *

Killua and Gon were exausted as they finished the last of their exercises for the afternoon. Feeling that they deserved a snack after all their hard work, the two boys headed for the convenience store to buy their favorite treat, ice cream. While walking, the two looked over to a café where two oh too familiar people were sitting in the outside seats, drinking coffee.

Before Gon knew it, Killua stormed over to their table, with Gon running just to catch up. Noticing his brother's sudden appearance, Illumi looked up at him. "Hello Killua."

Angrily, Killua yelled, "What are you doing here? What do you want?"

"Ah Ringo-chan!" Hisoka cried as he sighted Gon closing in on the action between the two brothers. Gon responded with widened eyes, but quickly recovered from it and gave a smile to the jester.

"Relax Killua. I'm not going to do anything to you or your friend. I was sent here by dad on an assignment." Illumi resonded, holding both a cool and annoyed tone in his voice, further annoying Killua.

"Why did he send you here? What's your assignment?"

"I'm afraid that classified information, little brother. Just be assured that I'll be around the area for quite some time, so don't be a stranger," Illumi joked. Knowing that it would be useless to continue arguing with Illumi, Killua left the café with Gon following close behind.

"We must meet again Ringo-chan!" Hisoka called out to Gon. Gon responded with a thumb up at Hisoka, but truthfully, the jester's appearance left shivers down Gon spine.

That night, Killua and Gon made sure to lock every door, vent, and window in their apartment, much to the confusion of their other two friends.


	6. Chocolate and Exams

"You know what's the best thing about Valentine's Day Gon?" Killua said as he and his spiky-haired friend stood in the elevator going up to their apartment, while carrying a large bag in both of his arms.

"What Killua?" his naïve friend counter-asked.

"The day after when all the leftover chocolate is on sale. I can't wait to start gorging on this stuff." The pair had just returned from the convenience store. While there, Killua made it his top priority to buy as much of the now on sale chocolate that he could get his hands on, seeing no problem in spending all of his money on candy. The cashier even gave him a strange look, asking if it was really ok for a child to spend so much money on candy, to which the chocoholic in question just nodded with a big grin on his face.

While not being really interested in purchasing sweets, Gon had no other choice but to accompany his friend. Kurapika was at work, and trying to spend any time with Leorio over the last few weeks was simply out of the question.

Wanting to get closer to his aspirations of becoming a doctor, Leorio had applied for a paid internship at the local hospital. Applying for the internship, according to Leorio, was only second to the Hunter Exam in difficulty. The application test was anything but a simple form or an interview. Over the past week, he needed to perform all sorts of live surgeries, take tests, and whatever his director asked of him to do. Tomorrow was his final exam, a 6 ½ hour test with no breaks in between sessions. He would be writing essays, marking diagrams of human bodies, and so much more. He had heard from other doctors in the hospital that it was the hardest exam that they had ever taken in their lives. Over the past, few days, he had been studying like a madman. Leorio had all but locked himself in his and Kurapika's room, buried under papers and books and only leaving for food, coffee, and bathroom breaks.

His sleeping schedule had changed as well. Over the past two weeks, Leorio's daily amount of sleep transformed from 8 hours a night into 2 on a good night. He usually fell asleep while studying, causing him to not even be able to get to his bed. The lack of sleep was starting to take its toll on Leorio's usually relaxed temper. Any sound over quiet talking while Leorio studied would send the man on a rampage of screaming to keep quiet.

Knowing of these dangers, the two children walked into the living room, knowing that it held enough of a distance from Leorio that the two could speak above a whisper without bothering their friend. While sitting on two of the living room's three loveseats, Killua started to quickly devour the bag of chocolates. In a matter of minutes, the boy finished a quarter of what must have been a ten pound box of chocolates and showing no sign of slowing down. Not wanting to get between Killua and his chocolate, fearing that Killua would beat him up for the crime, Gon kept to himself, trying to read a book that Kurapika recently finished, but finding it too hard for him to read. Finally, he settled for watching cartoons mute on the TV.

Hours later, Kurapika returned home from work. Not daring to enter his room, slightly intimidated by the monster that resided there, the blond settled in the living room with the two boys, holding a book in his arm. Seeing Killua with a chocolate-covered face and wrappers and boxes surrounding him, Kurapika spoke.

"What is the meaning of all of this chocolate? It's not good for a boy your age to be eating sweets like this! You're going to get fat and…"

Before Kurapika could finish his rants, Leorio screamed at the top of his lungs from his room "BE QUIET KURAPIKA! I'M TRYING TO STUDY IN HERE! GOD, HOW CAN I STUDY WITH ALL THE RACKET YOU'RE MAKING OUTSIDE." Embarrassed, Kurapika closed his lips and stayed quiet. He would deal with his Killua later.

At dinner, Kurapika had to literally **drag **Leorio out of his desk and to the table. From the kitchen, Gon and Killua could hear their friends arguing.

"Kurapika, I can't come to dinner! This test is tomorrow!"

"You've been studying all days! You can stand to eat dinner for a few minutes!" Kurapika was pulling Leorio's arm, Leorio holding onto a book with his free hand and the desk with the hand attached to his pulled arm.

"Can't you just bring my meal to our room?!" Leorio's fingers were now scratching the desk as Kurapika pulled him off.

"No!!!!" With that, Leorio's arm was completely detached from the desk. Kurapika had won, now pulling his friend by the arm into the kitchen. Luckily for Leorio, he had managed to hold on to a book he was reading as he was pulled away from his studies.

"If I fail my test," Leorio mumbled quietly under his breath, loud enough that Kurapika could hear him in their dead quiet apartment, "I blame you." To that, Kurapika merely smirked.

Now, that everyone was seated, Kurapika walked to the counter and brought out dinner; chicken and macaroni and cheese. Killua's face turned light green at the sight of it. However, not wanting to admit his ailment, the assassin served himself his evening meal.

This proved to be a difficult task, however, as Killua soon realized that he couldn't hold his meal down. He tried to hold his food down with the use of water but if was apparent to him; he was going to throw up. He tried to escape the table and run to the bathroom, but time proved to not be on his side, as he started to vomit before he could pull his chair away from the table.

Being able to see and avoid the vomit in time, Kurapika and Gon quickly pulled themselves away from the mess just in time. However, Leorio, focused on the contents of his textbook, had no such luck. Without warning, the vomit fell to his lap and slightly onto his textbook.

Everyone at the table was preparing themselves for the worst. They expected Leorio to release all hell out on Killua. If he had a tantrum at Kurapika talking, God knows what he was going to do to Killua for this. So scared for the reaction, Gon actually closed his eyes and ducked his head under the table.

Surprisingly, that storm never happened. Instead, something that Gon, Kurapika, and Killua could never expect happened.

"Killua, are you okay? You probably got a stomach from all those sweets that Kurapika was yelling to you about! Gon." Leorio said as his gaze turned towards the boy. "Go check the refrigerator for some seltzer. Killua probably has a stomach ache." Not questioning his friend, Gon complied.

"There isn't any here."

"Okay, run to the convenience store and make go buy some. My wallet's in my room, by my nightstand." Gon quickly started to act on Leorio's command, not knowing what else he could do. As Gon retrieved the wallet and ran for the door, Leorio cried to him, "And whatever you do, don't buy ANY sweets while you're there!"

Turning his face back to the rest of the group, Leorio looked at Killua, "Le's get you to the bathroom. We need to clean you off and I have some Pepto-Bismol with your name on it! Kurapika, can you clean up the kitchen and throw out any chocolate that Killua still has?"

"Yes."

"Good." Leorio pulled Killua out of his seat, his shoulders held in the older man's hands.

While in the bathroom, Killua's confusion over his friend's reaction to the situation had came out.

"Leorio," Killua called as the two were cleaning themselves off.

"Yes?"

"How come you were so cool about what just happened?"

"Well," the hopeful doctor said, "when you spend a lot of time operating in a hospital on life or death situations, you learn that you need to be calm and think about relaxing and stabilizing the patient rather than yourself. Your personal calmness has to be put aside. Why do you ask?"

"After how you've been these past few weeks, I would have thought you would have been furious at me for getting between you and your books." At Killua's comment, Leorio looked at himself, lightly embarrassed after thinking of his behavior recently.

"I guess I've been flying off the handle recently, haven't I?"

"Just a little," the Zoldyck joked.

"I'm sorry. It's just that I want this internship so badly. I'm nervous about this test. I want to do all that I can so that I can pass."

"You'll be fine, trust me," Killua reassured. "If tonight's any indication, than you definitely have what it takes to be a doctor. And if those guys can't see that because they're focused on some stupid test, then the heck with them!"

"Thanks Killua," Leorio said as he ruffled Killua's hair. Moments later, a tired Gon returned with the seltzer. The white haired boy slowly drank it, as he felt his stomach recovering.

That night, Leorio got the longest amount of sleep that he had gotten in weeks. His stress about the test had been vanquished. He left the apartment the next morning after a cup of coffee, feeling energized beyond belief, feeling confident and calmness within himself.

Four days later, Leorio returned from the hospital with one of the biggest smiles that he had ever given in his life.


	7. Glonae

In one word, Kurapika felt absolutely soulless when he woke up. He didn't want to talk to anyone, he didn't want to smile. He didn't want to move all day from his bed. He wanted to kill those responsible for his pain. He wanted to make them suffer identically to how he was today, just as he did all the time, especially on this day.

When Leorio woke up, he immediately got dressed and left the room. The horrible aura that his roommate was giving off hindered him from giving a greeting of any sort. Leorio did not need to ask why Kurapika was feeling how he was. It was very obvious to him of the occasion and reason for the gloominess of his companion. Today was the 5th anniversary of the slaughter of the Kurata clan, Kurapika's clan of origin. Kurapika had foretold him of the event and that today was the very day of the massacre.

Knowing this, Leorio had forewarned his two younger friends not to bother Kurapika today. Today was his day of mourning and he had every right to practice it without fear of disturbance at the hands of their group's younger members. Gon and Killua were more than understanding of their friend's predicament. They all decided to watch television in the living room, making sure to keep the volume at a rather low volume so that the sole Kurata could burn out all her negative feelings.

From the living room, the three could hear Kurapika attempted to get dressed.

"Stupid zipper!" He shouted. "OH THE HECK WITH IT! WHAT'S THE POINT?!" Being unsuccessful in his attempts to put on a jacket, Kurapika settled for lying on his bed, facing the wall. He didn't have to worry about work, having the day off. His boss had gone on vacation, leaving the boy with nothing to do for the week. This suited the Kurata fine, especially today where the last place he wanted to be was behind a computer. The anger he was carrying might have been enough to push him over the edge and cause him to have a meltdown.

For hours, the group basically remained in their respective stationary positions. Then something happened. Kurapika began to cry. The sound of her moaning could be faintly heard from the living room. Hearing this, Killua realized that he couldn't stand to see his friend like this. With that, he tugged on his two friends shirts and pointed at the door to the outside of their apartment. The three quietly crept into the hall.

"I don't know about the two of you," Killua began. "But I think we need to do something about Kurapika."

"I already told you Killua," Leorio said "we need to let Kurapika do whatever he needs to do today. If he wants to cry or yell, we shouldn't stop him. Kurapika has a lot of pain in his heart. He's carrying the burden of an entire tribe."

"I know." Killua muttered. "I just wished that we could ease his suffering, or make him feel better. I wish that we could do something, something more than just sit and listen as our friend cries his eyes out."

"All we really can do," Leorio stated, "is just be there for him."

"Perhaps not." Gon spoke. Having not spoken previously, he took the other two boys by surprise.

"What do you mean?" Killua asked.

"Mito-san said that bringing back happy memories of the dead put their mourners in a better mood. When my mom died, Mito said that she looked through scrapbooks of them together and cooked my mom's favorite meals to make herself feel better. Maybe, it would work with Kurapika too."

"Yea, it could work." Leorio mused as he thought of his friend's plan. "The only problem is, none of us know anything about the Kurata clan that we could use. We don't have the money to get a pair of scarlet eyes. And we can't do any research on my computer while Kurapika's in there."

"How about this?" Gon inquired as he faced the two boys. "Let's go to the library and find something on them ourselves! We can use that information and hopefully, make Kurapika feel better!" Leorio and Killua nodded in agreement. Gon's plan was far from perfect, but they couldn't come up with anything better.

* * *

"Guys!" Gon cried, getting a glare from the librarian as a result. "I think I found something!" Gon was searching online for the Kurata clan while Leorio and Killua had found information in reference books and were reading them at a nearby table. They walked over upon hearing the sound of their energetic companion.

"Check this out!" Gon said as he showed the screen to Leorio and Killua, a confident smile on his face. "It's a traditional Kurata recipe called Glonae, a pyramid-in-structure type dish. The dish is prepared in layers. It has a layer of rice as a base, a layer of meat as its center, and a hard boiled egg on top. It says that it was a very common dish for the Kurata clan."

"Then odds are Kurapika's tried it." Leorio said. "Good job Gon. Print it and let's head to the grocers to buy the ingredients."

* * *

Kurapika sat on his bed, trying to clear his mind of the horrible thoughts currently going through it. The night of his entire tribe's slaughter at the hands of the Genei Ryodan was as clear as day in Kurapika's brain. He saw bodies, impaled of their eyes, falling to the ground. He saw his parents, fleeing a burning home, only to be caught and murdered by the Ryodan. He whimpered as he recalled his mother screaming for mercy, but getting no such luxury.

Kurapika wanted, more than anything, for those awful memories to disappear. He wished for his mind to be at ease and for his family to be watching him, guiding him from above. He hoped that one day, he could move on from his past. However, he knew that said day would not come for a while. Until then, he needed to mourn the dead. He needed to let them know that he was still here, and would not cease until he had gotten revenge for his tribe.

Just then, he heard a door creak. He dared not open the edifice blocking him from the hall. His heart pounded until he realized that it was merely his friends coming in to the apartment.

* * *

Gon, Leorio, and Killua each carried several bags of groceries, the recipe locked in Gon's hands. They crept by Kurapika's room and went into the kitchen to begin their well intended mission.

"Gon, you handle the boiled eggs. You've said it yourself; it's your best dish. Killua, can you prepare the meat?" Leorio asked. He had adopted the leading position for this part of the mission; the cooking part. He felt that he knew the young boys as well as their strengths and weaknesses. Killua had experience with both a knife and flesh, a skill needed for the middle layer of the Glonae.

"Sure." The white haired boy replied, grinning evilly at the meat that he had the opportunity to mare as he wished. _Darn, I should cook more often, _he thought as he began to butcher up the meat.

"Excellent. I'll prepare the rice. Now let's hurry, we don't have a moment to lose!"

* * *

Leorio wondered why **he **was the one who had to go into the room and fetch Kurapika. Yes, it was his room too, but he was too terrified to think logically. He slowly opened the door to their room to find Kurapika facing the wall as he lied in bed.

"Umm, Kurapika. Just in case you're hungry, I figured that I should let you know that dinner's ready." He stood by the door quietly as he waited for a response.

The Kurata thought to himself. He hadn't eaten all day and was starving. He didn't think that mourning the dead consisted of starving himself all day. Agreeing with his own logic, Kurapika nodded.

"Thank you." He then stood up and walked with Leorio to the kitchen table.

Kurapika sat in his usual seat, adjacent to Killua and Leorio and across from Gon. Gon stood up and gave each of his friends their dinners, one by one. As he saw the dishes that sat in front of his friends, he couldn't believe his eyes.

"G-Glonae?"

"Yes." Gon quietly said. "We made it for you."

"But how?" the now flabbergasted boy asked. "How could you possibly know about Glonae?"

"We did our research." Leorio interjected. Kurapika continued to stare at the traditional dish of the Kurata clan. There it was, staring him right in the face, as real as he was.

"We hated seeing you like this." Killua started. "We wanted to relax you, and to show you that the memories that you have of your tribe don't all have to be bad."

Suddenly, memories of eating Glonae around a campfire with friends, family, and neighbors had all started to appear in Kurapika's mind.

Kurapika then proceeded to cry. He didn't cry tears for the Kurata clan. His tears weren't angry and bitter. This time they were tears of happiness and of realization. He then tilted his head upward to view his friends. They were his one and only diamond in his rough of suffering. They were his glimmering light in his otherwise dark tunnel. Their love and concern for him matched and almost exceeded that of anyone he'd ever met, including his family.

After dinner, Kurapika and his friends watched TV. The show was mindless to Kurapika, but it didn't matter. Kurapika realized that being with people who were as close as family to him was all that was important now. He'd stay by them and catch their tears, just as they did for him. He'd never abandon them.

_That is after all, _Kurapika thought, _what family is._


End file.
